EnE 280 HW 3

Magbag, Christian Armand V

MS EnE

A Scoping Project in Urban Development: New Clark City

In an effort to decongest Metro Manila, which for the longest time has been one of the world’s most
populated cities, the idea of a new economic and industrial center has been long formulated. In comes the
New Clark City Project, a promising climate-resilient, smart, green metropolis currently under construction
in Central Luzon. Inaugurated in 2016 under the Aquino Administration, now under the flagship of Duterte’s
Build, Build, Build campaign, the megazone’s construction and development started in 2018 and is set for
completion in 2020. This former U.S. Military Base spans an area of 9,450 has and will be divided into 5
districts: Government, Central Business, Academic, Agri-Forestry Research and Development, and
Wellness, Recreation and Eco-tourism. New Clark City has a projected carrying capacity of 1.12 million
residents and 800,000 more workers, higher than the combined current population of Makati and Taguig.
Its biggest local investor, Filinvest, boasts that the project will bring in a lot of employment and contribute
to job creation in the region, with the project’s initial stages allocated to the industrial sector.

The project, under the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA), is a case of rapid urban
development situated in a converted land area. The region consists of the former military base Camp
O’Donnell, and spans towards the mountainous area of Zambales, and to its predecessor, Clark Freeport
Zone in Pampanga. In a mere span of 6 years, the development is set to finish and initialize the relocation
of business centers and government agencies, bureaus and departments. The project is a bit ostentatious
in their climate-resilient branding, given that it is situated in a highland (54 meters in its lowest point) and
is surrounded by the mountain ranges of Zambales, giving it natural protection from typhoons.

This fast-track expansion may put a strain in the region’s resource allocation, i.e. power, food, and other
industrial and commercial needs. Just this last week of August, Meralco has already energized its first
substation in NCC, and along with a consortium of Japanese suppliers, is set to power the city’s
infrastructures and residential areas. A mass migration of workers and contractors must also be accounted
for in the development; part of BCDA’s emphasized commitments in their masterplan is adequate mixed-
class housing and smart accessible transportation and roads. There is also a need for a comprehensive solid
waste management plan for the whole city, along with a designated sanitary landfill and material recovery
facilities.

A criterion in assessing rapid urbanization is the social conflict that may emerge if workers from other
regions are brought in to the area. Since the objective of this initiative is the decongestion of Manila, should
the businesses and facilities simply be relocated? This is most likely not going to be the case, as investors
are most likely interested in simply expanding their business and capital, and would not agree to shut down
their operations in Metro Manila. Thus the businesses that would sprout in this metropolis will hire workers
from the neighboring cities and provinces, and export top personnel from the metro or even abroad.

Similar to Clark Freeport Zone, the mountainous area of the former military base is home to the indigenous
people of the Aeta Hungey. Tribes and coalitions of Aeta communities have called against land-grabbing
and unjust displacement led by BCDA during the New Clark City’s development. BCDA, however, assures
that the lands hit by their development are idle, and that there are no ancestral domains within on-going
construction sites. The LGU of Capas, Tarlac clarifies that the 12 groups of indigenous people protesting
were affected not by the construction of NCC but by the ground-laying of the Bamban-Capas Access Road
and have already been compensated accordingly. Researchers from the University of Glasgow, and the
University of the Philippines have discovered that there is an issue with the security of land of the IPs, as
their lands were not properly granted Certificates of Ancestral Domain Titles (CADT). Although the Aeta
Hungey have applied for CADT thrice since 1999 for their ancestral domain in Capas, the National
Commission of Indigenous People has refused to acknowledge their claim. Even a dialogue for free, prior
and informed consent (FPIC) has yet to be initiated by the BCDA for their construction activities.

Now that the concrete road has been paved for the project’s development, the people fear the possibility
of displacement and the erasure of their history and culture. These people have experienced the horrors
of foreign occupation and exploitation, only to fall victim to intimidation and aggression from local
developers.

References:

Manongdo, P. (2019, March 9). Clean, green and safe: The Philippines’ first sustainable city to be built by
2022. Eco-Business. Retrieved from https://www.eco-business.com/news/clean-green-and-safe-the-
philippines-first-sustainable-city-to-be-built-by-2022/

Cailao, P. B. (2019, May 8). Filinvest breaks ground for green, future-ready township in New Clark City.
Retrieved from https://bcda.gov.ph/filinvest-breaks-ground-green-future-ready-township-new-clark-city

de Leon, E. A. A. (2019, April 29). First smart, green, and resilient city in PH to rise in Tarlac by
2019. Newsbytes.PH . Retrieved from http://newsbytes.ph/2018/04/first-smart-green-and-resilient-city-
in-ph-to-rise-in-tarlac-by-2019/

admuaea5. (2019, August 7). New Clark City: Development for Everyone? Retrieved from
http://admuaea.org/2019/08/07/new-clark-city-development-for-everyone/

(2019, July 12). New Clark has no ancestral domain — BCDA. Daily Tribune. Retrieved from
https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2019/07/12/new-clark-has-no-ancestral-domain-bcda/

Subingsubing, K., & Ramos, M. (2019, July 9). New Clark City: Development for whom? Philippine Daily
Inquirer. Retrieved from https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1139364/new-clark-city-development-for-whom